O-Train Line 1/3 [Stage 2 | West Extension | Tunney's to Baseline/Moodie] | U/C

[rocketphish]

Ford to formally pledge province's share of LRT Stage 2
City needs Ontario's $1.2B in hand before signing construction contracts

Joanne Chianello · CBC
Posted: Mar 22, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to formally announce $1.2 billion in provincial funding for Ottawa's light rail expansion during a news conference at an east-end train yard Friday morning.

City officials were expecting the Progressive Conservatives to honour the former Liberal government's pledge to help extend the city's initial LRT network to the eastern, western and southern suburbs, adding 44 kilometres and 24 stations

Ford had voiced support for the light rail expansion during last spring's provincial election, and Mayor Jim Watson has been optimistic that the money was on its way.

"We've had a number of really great conversations, the premier and I, over the last couple of months, and when I left his office a couple of weeks ago, I left with a really good feeling that he's going to come and deliver some good news for the City of Ottawa," Watson said Thursday. "I don't want to scoop him, but we'll see him shortly."

While city officials had been assured the provincial money was coming, they need the money in hand before signing the multi-billion-dollar contracts for Stage 2 LRT.

The province and the federal governments are each contributing $1.2 billion to the project, which should have equated to one-third of the total cost.

But last month, both residents and councillors were stunned to learn the price tag had ballooned by more than $1 billion to $4.66 billion.

Local taxpayers will have to pick up the additional cost through a number of measures, including increased transit levies and long-term debt.

Ford's announcement takes place at 11 a.m. at Belfast Yard.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/premier-doug-ford-2-billion-lrt2-funding-1.5066565

[Ottawaresident]

Thats nice ...

[m0nkyman]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/snc-lavalin-did-not-score-70-per-cent-minimum-lrt2-1.5064746

Are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!?

SNC-Lavalin failed to meet technical threshold for $1.6B LRT contract:
Montreal-based company's rivals easily met technical score, sources tell CBC

Joanne Chianello · CBC News · Posted: Mar 22, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

SNC-Lavalin did not meet the 70 per cent technical grade to qualify for the Trillium Line extension and maintenance contract, according to CBC sources. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC Ottawa)
SNC-Lavalin won the $1.6-billion contract to extend and maintain Ottawa's north-south LRT line even though it didn't achieve the minimum technical score to qualify for the project — a threshold its competitors met easily, CBC News has learned.

The Montreal-based company beat out two other consortia to extend the Trillium Line from Greenboro into Riverside South, a decision cemented with a 19-3 vote by Ottawa city council on March 6.

However, sources with direct knowledge of the Stage 2 evaluation process told CBC that SNC-Lavalin failed to achieve the minimum technical score of 70 per cent, a requirement set out in publicly available documents.

CBC is not naming the three sources because they are not authorized to speak with the media.

The troubled company was one of three pre-qualified bidders for the extension of the Trillium Line. The other two — Trillium Link and Trillium Extension Alliance — scored well above the minimum technical grade of 70 per cent, according to CBC's sources.

City 'stands by' process
City officials and their hired experts overseeing the procurement process have steadfastly refused to confirm whether SNC-Lavalin met the technical threshold.

When council debated and ultimately approved the spending for LRT Stage 2, which includes extending both the east-west Confederation Line and the north-south Trillium Line, Coun. Diane Deans asked if the winning bids had met the minimum 70 per cent score.

She was told the scores were commercially confidential. Deans replied she wasn't asking for the score, only to be assured the winning bids met the threshold.


Coun. Diane Deans expresses frustration that city staff refused to confirm whether SNC-Lavalin met the technical requirements for the Trillium Line contract. 1:12
Again this week, the city refused to say whether SNC-Lavalin made the minimum grade, citing commercial confidentiality of the process.

Given more than two business days to respond to inquiries, the city refused to provide an in-person interview, sending instead an email attributed to Chris Swail, the director of O-Train planning.

"The city stands by the overall integrity of the procurement process in no uncertain terms," according to Swail's statement.

The statement also says city officials "are all satisfied with the results" of the procurement process and in "the winning proponent's ability and capacity to design, build and maintain the Trillium Line extension."

SNC-Lavalin has built rail systems all over the world, including the award-winning Canada Line in Vancouver.

"We are very proud of the proposal we submitted and look forward to getting started," said an SNC-Lavalin spokesperson in an email.

The engineering and construction giant said it has no knowledge of the breakdown of the score as the process is confidential.

How the bids were evaluated
The procurement process was overseen by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, consultants Deloitte, fairness commissioner Oliver Grant, city-hired engineering experts and the city's own staff.

According to the statement from Swail, the three technical proposals were reviewed by a team of experts for "completeness" and "conformance" to make sure the submissions met the requirements of the contract.

In order to receive a passing score, a technical score threshold of 70 per cent for each of the criteria was required.
- City of Ottawa report
But these "completeness" and "conformance" reviews are not the same as the technical scoring, and in fact were conducted before the bids were scored for their technical merit.

The technical evaluation for the shortlisted bids occurred in two stages, according to public city documents.

Individual expert evaluators reviewed and scored the submitted bids for the Trillium Line on a number of criteria including project design, engineering and operations.

"In order to receive a passing score, a technical score threshold of 70 per cent for each of the criteria was required," states a city report.

The evaluators then came together to decide on a so-called "consensus" score out of a maximum of 500 points.

It is common in procurement processes that a bid that doesn't make the technical grade be disqualified and barred from the financial evaluation round. This week, the city would not say whether this was the case with the LRT Stage 2 procurement.


According to a statement attributed to Chris Swail, Ottawa's director of O-Train planning, all the bids 'were deemed conformant' to the city's requirements. But that assessment is separate from the technical scoring. (CBC)
Secret committee
But Swail did appear to confirm it earlier this month.

At the March 6 council meeting, Deans asked specifically about the process: "Pre-qualification, followed by technical scoring, and then if you passed the 70 per cent threshold, you went onto financial assessment. Is that correct?"

Swail answered: "That is correct."

The financial evaluation also consisted of several stages, and the resulting consensus score was also out of a maximum of 500 points.

The technical and financial scores were then combined to produce a "final ranking."

SNC-Lavalin said it was told by the city that it was the preferred proponent, "which means that our total score placed us first." It is possible that a bid could have the overall highest score, but still not have met the 70 per cent minimum technical threshold.

The bid evaluation steering committee oversaw this whole evaluation process, but no one knows who these people are — the membership of the committee is secret.


Geoffrey Gilbert, centre, a Norton Rose Fulbright lawyer, told councillors on March 6 that they didn't need to know whether SNC-Lavalin met the technical score. (Kate Porter/CBC)
The steering committee presented the final technical and financial scores, as well as the overall rankings, to an executive steering committee comprised of the city's most senior staff including the city manager, the city solicitor, the treasurer and the head of OC Transpo.

It's the executive steering committee that recommended the preferred proponent to council, which ultimately had the final say on whether to approve SNC-Lavalin for the Trillium contract. But council made that decision without knowing whether the company met the minimum technical score.

According to Norton Rose Fulbright lawyer Geoffrey Gilbert, "council is not supposed to verify whether … proponents met the technical score. It's council's job to take all the recommendations on the preferred proponent, assess that and make their decision."

Unanswered questions
That SNC-Lavalin failed to meet the minimum technical grade raises a number of issues.

First, how did the company make it through to the financial evaluation round?

Asked if there are provisions in the request for proposals that would allow a bidder to win without earning a 70 per cent grade, the city wouldn't explicitly say. Instead, Swail's statement repeats the argument that "specific details that are commercially sensitive or relate to proponent evaluations are kept confidential to protect the integrity of the bidding process and its results."


Chris Swail, centre, said during last month's technical briefing on the Stage 2 LRT contract that SNC-Lavalin was by far the lowest bidder. (Kate Porter/CBC)
Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers also cite confidentiality as the reason for refusing to confirm whether SNC-Lavalin met the minimum technical score. But Swail has spoken a number of times about the Montreal company's financial score.

"They were by far the lowest bid," Swail said last month of SNC-Lavalin's proposal. He's also said SNC-Lavalin was the only proponent to come in under the city's price target.

While SNC-Lavalin's bid will cost the city $230 million more in the short term than planned, the company promises to save the city $100 million over its 27-year maintenance contract.

The contract is not yet signed and SNC-Lavalin's bid expires at the end of the month.

[Ottawaresident]

Oh Boy Ottawa, This Will Be Fun!

[Reecemartin]

[Deleted]

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Gotta love how the city went with "but they're the cheaper option" instead of, you know, a reliable option.

[Uhuniau]

Oh wow this is baaaddddd.

[OCCheetos]

https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1109124261480935424

[Ottawaresident]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa/status/1109124261480935424

WAHHHHHHH! That is sad.

[J.OT13]

So are we suppose to erect a statue of Doug now for pledging the $1.2 billion that had been promised to us years ago?

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

So are we suppose to erect a statue of Doug now for pledging the $1.2 billion that had been promised to us years ago?

Bow to the emperor. He did not take away the train to give tax cuts to the rich.

[Ottawaresident]

Well someday he is going to be ousted, probably in 2022.

[OCCheetos]

Originally, the idea was that the closure of the Transitway between Tunney's and Dominion would occur last and after the Trillium Line had reopened so that the extra buses used on the R2 could be reassigned to provide extra service needed in the West because of the closure.

However, in the last presentation it shows that portion of the Transitway being closed in 2021 while the Trillium Line's reopening has been delayed well into 2022.
Has this been brought up yet?

[J.OT13]

I've listened to just about every presentation since Stage 2 preferred proponents were revealed and I haven't heard anyone question this.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I've listened to just about every presentation since Stage 2 preferred proponents were revealed and I haven't heard anyone question this.

Good Day.

Indeed, everyone, esp. OC-T and J.Manconi, have remained utterly silent on that point.
All the presentations and updates have steered far clear from addressing it.

Makes one wonder if they are going to magically find jobs for the remaining layoffs.

or what.

[Baybreeze12]

I've been reading through the Stage 2 Connectivity Report, which is covered in a multi-coloured spaghetti of MUPs, dedicated cycling facilities and ped bridges. Does anyone know the extent to which all this connectivity will be implemented during the build? Presumably, the stuff from the TMP isn't going in right away, but I'm a bit worried this is just a lot of recommendations with no firm funding commitment.

I really think good station connectivity (beyond just car and transit) will be crucial in elevating confed line beyond being just a commuter system.

[Multi-modal]

Originally Posted by Baybreeze12

I've been reading through the Stage 2 Connectivity Report, which is covered in a multi-coloured spaghetti of MUPs, dedicated cycling facilities and ped bridges. Does anyone know the extent to which all this connectivity will be implemented during the build? Presumably, the stuff from the TMP isn't going in right away, but I'm a bit worried this is just a lot of recommendations with no firm funding commitment.

I really think good station connectivity (beyond just car and transit) will be crucial in elevating confed line beyond being just a commuter system.

Short answer is some will be built but not all. My impression was the consultants behind the connectivity report didn't get buy in from the city on all their proposed connections, and many are not feasible in the near term. That said, I think a good rule of thumb is the more that's happening at a station the more likely connectivity elements will be tacked on. So for example, almost nothing is happening at Greenboro so none of the proposed cycling facilities or MUPs will be built there... whereas at Iris a massive pinecrest creek culvert is being relocated and they are building a new overpass, so there is the opportunity for almost all connectivity elements recommended at Iris to be built.

[PHrenetic]

Originally Posted by Multi-modal

Short answer is some will be built but not all. My impression was the consultants behind the connectivity report didn't get buy in from the city on all their proposed connections, and many are not feasible in the near term. That said, I think a good rule of thumb is the more that's happening at a station the more likely connectivity elements will be tacked on. So for example, almost nothing is happening at Greenboro so none of the proposed cycling facilities or MUPs will be built there... whereas at Iris a massive pinecrest creek culvert is being relocated and they are building a new overpass, so there is the opportunity for almost all connectivity elements recommended at Iris to be built.

Good Day.

I would tend to agree - the documentation I've seen seems to indicate MUP work on new or highly revamped RoW - otherwise very little mention.
I do think they are paying a bit more attention to this after the massive FUBAR of Pimisi station connectivity.

For What It's Worth !

[Baybreeze12]

Originally Posted by Multi-modal

Short answer is some will be built but not all. My impression was the consultants behind the connectivity report didn't get buy in from the city on all their proposed connections, and many are not feasible in the near term. That said, I think a good rule of thumb is the more that's happening at a station the more likely connectivity elements will be tacked on. So for example, almost nothing is happening at Greenboro so none of the proposed cycling facilities or MUPs will be built there... whereas at Iris a massive pinecrest creek culvert is being relocated and they are building a new overpass, so there is the opportunity for almost all connectivity elements recommended at Iris to be built.

Thanks for the clarification. I suppose this means, apart from the dedicated RoW MUPs coming from the reduced LRT cross-section, a piecemeal implementation tied to other infrastructure renewal projects. I can see how it's cheaper to build it that way rather than retrofit existing roads and bridges, it just feels glacially slow.

Originally Posted by PHrenetic

Good Day.

I would tend to agree - the documentation I've seen seems to indicate MUP work on new or highly revamped RoW - otherwise very little mention.
I do think they are paying a bit more attention to this after the massive FUBAR of Pimisi station connectivity.

For What It's Worth !

Maybe a bit off topic but, with respect to Pimisi, I remember they had originally built the Booth St overpass without any bike connectivity. Was that the extent of the screw-up?

[Multi-modal]

Originally Posted by Baybreeze12

Maybe a bit off topic but, with respect to Pimisi, I remember they had originally built the Booth St overpass without any bike connectivity. Was that the extent of the screw-up?

Pretty much, yes